Tribal Youth Resource Center Emerging Leaders are a unique group actively co-creating positive impacts in their Tribal communities with their peers, while also expanding their own lived experiences. These young leaders represent diverse voices from various Tribes, Villages, and Pueblos. The TYRC-Emerging Leaders embody the purpose of the TYRC: “Enhancing the opportunities for Indigenous communities to expand their potential in protecting and nurturing their most sacred asset – their youth.”
The TYRC Emerging Leaders are graduates of the TYRC Young Leaders mentorship program. They will continue to be mentored by the TYRC to deepen their leadership in developing and facilitating TYRC events, panels, podcasts, blogs, and newsletters. In their expanded role as Emerging Leaders, they will be providing virtual and onsite training and technical assistance to Youth Healing to Wellness Courts and Tribal Youth Programs funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in the areas of cultivating youth leadership and sustaining youth engagement in youth-centered programs and services.
Congratulations to our recent Tribal Youth Resource Center Young Leader graduates: Kaitlin Martinez (Mentor), O’odham and Dine; Colby WhiteThunder (Mentor), Alabama-Coushatta / Omaha; Isabella Fridia, Hanhe Wi Iyoyanpa Win (Bright Shining Moon Woman), Wichita, Kiowa, Caddo, Hunka Oglala Lakota; James John II, Kipnuk Traditional Council; Misty Sandoval, Navajo and Seminole
Meet the three 2025 TYRC Emerging Leaders below!
Anagali (Shace) Duncan
ᎠᎾᎦᎵ a-na-ga-li (lightening)
Keetoowah, Muskogee Creek, Seneca
Anagali (Shace) Duncan was born and raised on the Cherokee reservation. He is a current Junior at Stanford University studying Native American Studies. He is passionate about indigenous education and environmental justice. He has spoken at various places that include the White House tribal youth forum and the United Nations. He has worked on many projects that include building an ecological knowledge garden, and advocating for Indian Child Welfare. He is a current intern with the Tribal Law and Policy Institute where he works on mitigating jurisdictional conflicts with tribal, federal and state courts. He has been working with the Tribal Youth Resource Center for the past three years. He aspires to step into the realm of policy-making and education. His vision is to create a world where indigenous youth can flourish in environments that have long marginalized them. His goal is to make meaningful contributions to his community through all that he does.
Sydney Matheson
Colville Confederated Tribes
My name is Sydney Matheson. I am a Tribal Youth Resource Center Emerging Leader. I am an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation; my traditional homelands range from central Washington State into Southern British Columbia. I have spent much time there but now reside in Spokane, WA. I have a degree in criminal justice and have studied subjects such as juvenile justice at Georgetown University and Tribal Leadership at Harvard Business School. I am currently majoring in public policy and minoring in social justice & human rights through Arizona State University Online. As well as Tribal Governance and Business Management at Northwest Indian College. Behind the scenes I am a Certified Nursing Assistant, an Emergency Medical Technician, soon to be business owner, and a girl-mom. I enjoy spending time learning all subjects and mastering traditional arts such as storytelling, basket weaving, and regalia making. Limlimxt, thank you.
Sam Schimmel
Kenaitze Indian and Siberian Yupik Eskimo
Sam is St. Lawrence Island Siberian Yupik and Kenaitze Indian from Kenai, Alaska. From as far back as he can remember, he keeps life lessons front and center. “Listen to your elders, listen to your people, listen to stories told to you”. Sam uses Native Knowledge to influence and direct local as well as national community efforts to better the lives of Alaska Natives and American Indians. He grew up berry picking, subsistence hunting, and fishing. He was a 2017 Center For Native American Youth Champion for Change. In 2018 he was appointed by the Governor of Alaska to serve on the State of Alaska’s Climate Action Leadership Team, where he helped craft the state’s policy on climate change. In 2019 the National Congress of American Indians recognized him with the Youth Leadership Award. In 2020 he was awarded the Alaska Federation of Native’s Presidents Youth Leadership Award. In 2021 Sam launched Operation Fish Drop, a program which sought to give urban Native populations access to traditional foods during the Covid 19 pandemic. Sam graduated from Stanford University in 2022. He continues to be an invested member of his community, supporting and often directing positive change for Alaska Native and American Indians. He spent his 1L summer Clerking for the Alaska Native Justice Center, and is now in his second year of Law School at Georgetown University.
